Brown arraigned in Norwich in Mallove murder case

Mozzelle Brown is led from the courtroom after appearing in Norwich Superior Court Thursday, Nov. 21, 2013, on murder charges related to the death of Eugene Mallove in 2004.Sean D. Elliot/The DayBuy Photo

Mozzelle Brown, who was retrieved from federal prison by Norwich authorities this week, was arraigned Thursday in Superior Court in Norwich for his alleged role in the May 14, 2004, beating death of scientist Eugene Mallove.

Brown, who will turn 40 on Saturday, is expected to go to trial in New London Superior Court next year on charges of murder, felony murder and first-degree robbery.

Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Paul J. Narducci, who is prosecuting the case, said police obtained the arrest warrant in 2010, but Brown has been in federal custody since 2008.

At the arraignment, Judge Stuart M. Schimelman set Brown’s bond at $2 million and transferred the case to the New London court where major crimes are tried. His next court date is Dec. 9 and he will be represented by Hamden attorney Richard Marquette.

Norwich police traveled to a federal prison in Elkton, Ohio, this week and brought Brown back to Connecticut under a state order, or “writ,” to face trial in the murder case. Brown is serving 15 years for drug and firearms offenses and is expected to complete that sentence in August 2021.

Mallove, a prominent scientist and Norwich native, was fatally beaten in the driveway of his childhood home at 119 Salem Turnpike. He was cleaning out the home, which his mother owned, after having evicted the parents of Brown’s cousin, Chad Schaffer, a month earlier.

Schaffer, Brown and Schaffer’s girlfriend, Candace Foster, were identified as suspects and charged in 2010, after the state dismissed charges against two other men who had initially been charged.

Schaffer went on trial in April 2012. In the midst of the trial, he accepted a plea offer from the state to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter in exchange for a 16-year prison sentence. The offer outraged Mallove’s survivors, who called it an insult and said it minimized the suffering the crime had caused. Mallove’s family members live out of state and did not attend Thursday’s proceeding. Contacted by email, Mallove’s son, Ethan Mallove, said he would not be commenting.

Foster, who is cooperating with the state, remains incarcerated at the Janet S. York Correctional Institution and is unable to resolve her case until Brown’s case has been resolved.